A L B A N Y

"Home of the Hereford"

In November of 1874, residents of the newly
organized county of Shackelford went to the voting booths and decided where
their future county seat would be. At that time, the frontier town of Fort
Griffin, also known as "The Flat", on the Clear Fork of the Brazos River
in the northeastern part of the county below the actual military fort of
Ft. Griffin, was the hub of activity in the area. It was chosen as the temporary
county seat until this particular election and Griffinites hoped that their
town would be chosen as the permanent county seat. However, many in
the county felt that Fort Griffin was too rough and rowdy to be the seat
of county government with its many saloons and "houses of ill repute", which
attracted the roughest kinds of men and women to town. Conservative ranchers
and farmers wanted nothing to do with this "hive of lawlessness" and proposed
a new undeveloped area in the center of the county to serve as the permanent
county seat. On November 8 of that year, county residents voted 54 to 39
in favor of having the county seat moved permanently from Fort Griffin to
the new town in the center of the county, which was named Albany by county
clerk William Cruger after his former home of Albany, Georgia. The
land for the townsite was donated by Henry Jacobs.

The first order of business was to survey the
townsite and sell lots. Land in the middle of the townsite was set
aside for the building of a permanent county courthouse. Soon, the new town
had a post office and a thriving business district with a number of hotels,
dry goods stores, government offices, and, of course, a few saloons. Homes
were built, a school was established, a newspaper was begun, and a church
was organized. By 1881, Albany had everything a growing community on
the frontier would need to survive, except a railroad. Albany had seen what
had happened to other prosperous towns in the area that the Texas and Pacific
Railroad had bypassed. Buffalo Gap was the county seat and major town
in Taylor County until the railroad came. Instead of running farther south
through Buffalo Gap, the railroad decided to run its tracks through the northern
part of the county. The railroad thus helped create the new town of
Abilene. Since commerce would be centered around the railroad, many
Buffalo Gap citizens moved themselves and their businesses from Buffalo Gap
to Abilene. Later, citizens voted to move the county seat from Buffalo
Gap to Abilene. As a result, Buffalo Gap became an obsolete, declining
town. The same thing occurred to the prosperous town of Belle
Plain, in Callahan County. When the railroad came, county offices and many
businesses migrated northward to the newer town of Baird, which was located
on the railroad. Just like Buffalo Gap, Belle Plain declined afterwards.
The competition between Fort Griffin and Albany was similar to these
other situations. Although the Texas and Pacific, which ran east and west,
would not come close to either town, another railroad, which ran north and
south, could. The Texas-Central Railroad ran from Houston through Waco to
its final stop in Cisco, in Eastland County, 33 miles southeast of Albany.
In the future, the railroad wanted to extend its line into the Texas
Panhandle and beyond. Albany hoped that the railroad would extend its line
at least to Albany. Citizens convinced the railroad that the Albany
area was an important shipping point for cattle and that having the railroad
run through there would be most profitable. The land in Albany necessary
for the railroad would be provided. In addition, citizens raised $50,000
to entice the railroad to come. Fort Griffin had hoped that the line would
come through their town, but Albany's offer was too good for the railroad
to pass up. In December of 1881, the first train steamed into Albany
from Cisco. After this, the competition between Albany and Fort Griffin
was no more. The military fort had already been abandoned and the coming
of the railroad to Albany sealed the fate of the town of Fort Griffin. Most
of the remaining merchants in Fort Griffin moved their businesses to Albany
to be near the railroad. Thus, Fort Griffin faded into
history.

In the years following the coming of the railroad,
Albany experienced dramatic growth. The town had become a very important
shipping point for cattle, wool, buffalo bones, among other things.
Hereford cattle would play a big part in this growth. The first
of the new breed of cattle was introduced there, earning Albany the nickname,
"Home of the Hereford". In 1884, the construction of the Shackelford
County Courthouse was completed. In 1886, the area was ravaged
by a severe drought, prompting a visit to Albany and nearby Hulltown by Clara
Barton, the founder of the American Red Cross. During these years, the farming
and ranching industry dominated the economy of Albany and Shackelford County.
By 1910, that changed when the Cottle No. 1 gas well (located 15 miles
southeast of Albany near Moran (formerly Hulltown)) was discovered. This
discovery ushered in the oil boom to Shackelford County. Wells sprung up
everywhere and Albany became the hub of a growing oil industry in the area.
Thousands of wildcatters and their families arrived to strike oil and
get rich. Many did, but many didn't. Nevertheless, the oil boom of
the 1910's and 1920's made Albany grow even more, both in population and
in wealth. In 1927, the city was finally incorporated. With the end
of the oil boom and the stock market crash of 1929 and the following years
of the Great Depression, World War II, and the Post-War years, Albany experienced
the pains many other towns in the area did. During the 1950's and 1960's,
the population declined as people flocked to larger towns and cities and
the automobile enabled people to travel elsewhere to buy goods. In
the 1970's and 1980's, Albany civic leaders and merchants worked harder to
keep people home, and they succeeded. In 1978, Albany was tested by the remnants
of Tropical Storm Amelia, which dropped over 20 inches of rain on Albany
and the surrounding area within a 24 hour period. The flood damage was excessive
and Albany received nationwide attention. It took awhile, but Albany
gradually recovered. Another catastrophe also received nationwide attention
in 1988 when a huge range fire erupted after a careless person burned tires
in Clyde. The dry and windy March conditions enabled the out of control fire
to spread quickly north into Shackelford County. The fire burned millions
of acres of land and almost led to the evacuations of both Albany and
Moran as the fire inched within miles of both towns before shifting in another
direction. Luckily, the fire was then brought under control and put out by
a blockade of firefighters from all over the country who responded. In both
instances, Albany managed to stand tall in the face of
adversity.

Today, Albany is a small town that has a lot
to offer. Since the oil bust in the mid 1980's, Albany has tried to find
other means to keep the local economy going. Tourism has come to the forefront.
Albany receives thousands of visitors each year. Some come to
tour the many historical sites that Albany has to offer. Some come
to tour Fort Griffin State Park north of town. One of the most noted
places in Albany to visit is the Old Jail Art Center. Housed in the original
county jail, the center was conceived by citizens as a place to display works
of art. The center became so popular, that an expansion was constructed
in 1984. Still that proved to be not enough space. In 1997, another
addition was added, doubling the size of the center. This newer addition
was added for the purpose of displaying artifacts of local history and for
enhancing the Robert Nail Archives, a collection of historical material related
to Shackelford County, named after a local historian and playwriter who compiled
the material and who was instrumental in saving the jail from being demolished.
Robert Nail also was responsible for another of Albany's tourist attractions,
its most famous, "The Fort Griffin Fandangle". Created as a senior
class play in 1938, the Fandangle has evolved into a yearly Albany tradition.
Thousands come to Albany each year to see the locally produced and directed
outdoor musical, which tells the story of the settling of Shackelford County
and the founding of the military outpost and frontier town of Fort Griffin.
It is ironic that the town that beat out Fort Griffin for the railroad
in 1881 would be the one keeping its memory alive in song and dance. This
goes to show how proud Albany is of its frontier heritage.

Much of this history came from an August 16,
1981 article in the Abilene Reporter-News, entitled "Albany Known
as 'Home of the Hereford'"